Hermana Kennedy, the Celebrity Impersonator

Hola mi familia y mi amigos!

Me at the Bogota Colombia temple

Thank you so much to everyone who's been writing me!  I'm seriously so grateful for the outpouring of love that I've received, and thank you to those of you who wrote to me about how to be a better teacher!  It's gotten a lot better now that I'm not talking as much, and now that my Spanish is getting better, it's becoming a lot easier to communicate (mostly because I don't have to write down everything that I want to say in my notebook)!

So, some funny things from this week...

Latinos say the funniest things.  Seriously, I am in a constant state of laughter in my classes.  Possibly the funniest thing so far was when our evening teacher, Hermano Saldana, was a few minutes late, and my companion, Hermana Poll (pronounced like Paul) said something about him being late.  He responded with, "Hermana, you don't even KNOW how much cereal I put in my bowl."  Trust me, it's made even better by the Latino accent!

Also, my morning teacher, Hermano Castiblanco, said that I look like Kate Winslet, and one of my fellow Hermanas said that I look like Drew Barrymore.  Not sure if either is true, but they're both beautiful, so I'll take it!

My district.  Hermana Poll and I are the taller hermanas in the back.

I actually get to exercise for a full hour here everyday at 2 in the afternoon.  So, I get up in the morning, do my hair, get dressed, then at 2 p.m., change, go out and run. Yes, I run. None of this namby-pamby "core stuff",  Then, I come inside, but we only have a half hour to shower.  Well, that ain't enough time for this girl, so I jump in the shower, wash the sweat off, then get out, and blow dry the sweat in my hair, and still make it to class on time. Yes, I blow dry the sweat in my hair.  So, yes, I am exercising, and I'm sacrificing my perfect hair every day for it.  But, I actually love exercise time!  It feels so nice to go out and stretch my legs after hours of being inside.

The Latinos LOVE to take pictures of themselves.  You can
just see me in the top left corner....

So, this past Friday, the two elders in charge of the sacrament meeting program come up to me, and ask "Hermana Kennedy, we know this is such short notice, but would you be able to do a musical number on Sunday?"  Little do they know :-)  I was like, "Yes, I'd love to," and thankfully there's a 4-week sister, Hermana Yardley, that was almost a piano performance major so we cranked out "Write Thy Name Upon My Heart".  We were practicing in our new chapel on Saturday night, and the entrance to the chapel is right next to the entrance to the elders' rooms, so as we were practicing, all of these Latinos started popping their heads in the door.  According to Hermana Poll, they were all saying that they loved me as I was singing.  And when I came out, I forrealz felt like a celebrity.  They were all standing there, and they all started whipping out the compliments in Spanish faster than you can say HOLA!  And it continued the next day.  It's so cute though.  These Latinos are so dang tone deaf, but they're so enthusiastic when they sing, so I think that they must all be true music lovers in their hearts.  It was great though.  Hermana Yardley is an excellent pianist, so it felt like playing with you, Mama!

Hermana Yardley and me.  I love her so much.

My Spanish is coming along well.  Yesterday, I started talking to one of the Venezuelan elders, and I was actually able to hold a real conversation!  It made me realize that I can do this.  Being a missionary is about being friends with people, and finding out about their lives, and I know that I can do that now.  It was so liberating!  I've been so frustrated lately, because I've felt like I'm not feeling the Spirit the way some people are.  Some people say that they've felt the Spirit every time we've had any kind of religious lesson, and it's been seriously stressing me out, but last night, I realized that Heavenly Father has really blessed me.  He blessed me by allowing me to learn German for so many years, because seriously, learning German has helped me so much....except in word order.  I keep ordering sentences in Spanish the way they are in German, with the verb at the end, but that's not right!  Spanish is like English!  Seriously, I still say German words sometimes.  Anyway, he's blessed me with the gift of tongues since I've been here, and that's the Spirit helping me.  I'm so used to the Spirit being a feeling, like when I read or pray about my Savior, but he is manifesting himself to me differently now--by augmenting my abilities in Spanish, in learning it, speaking it, and understanding it, and it's amazing.

We were able to listen to an excellent devotional this past Sunday by Elder Bednar.  It's the 2009 Provo MTC devotional.  We also had the opportunity as a district to watch Jeffrey R. Holland's Mormon Message called Where Justice, Love and Mercy Meet.  It's about two brothers who go climbing, and they come to a point where they can't go up anymore, but they can't go down.  It has such a beautiful message about the Savior.  He is always there to catch us when we fall.  There are so many times in our lives where we may feel alone, or unloved, but Jesus Christ knows our pain.  He knows our tribulations, and he knows our suffering.  And he is there to help us make it.  He will be there to pull us up when we can't go on any further, and he will save us.  There's a beautiful scripture in Mosiah 14: 4-6 about it, and it beautifully compliments John 10.

I seriously love it here.  I love the people, I love the atmosphere, and I love this country.  And I can't even leave the CCM!  I like to call it "the compound", because there's a big gate around it.  For exercise time, we actually do get to leave because we exercise in the park across the street, and I feel like I'm FREED whenever I leave!

The temple is actually only closed for two weeks (not two months), so I'll get to go again next week!  Oh boy....that Spanish though :-)

Hermana Poll is my companion (sorry about forgetting to mention her name before).  Last Sunday, we had a lesson about charity being the pure love of Christ, and how we can learn to love people by serving them, so I've been trying really hard this week to serve her, whether by complimenting her, or doing what she wants to do, and it's made a real difference in every way.  We go walking around the building after every meal together because she really doesn't like being inside, and we sing together, and I love her even more.  She's a sweet girl.

Me and Hermana Poll

I sure do love you all, and thank you again for the emails!  Presidente Hansen hasn't quite figured out snail mail yet, because he only became Presidente one month ago, so I can't send letters, but I'm writing them, and I'll send them once I get to Ecuador.  I'm hoping that if anyone has sent me a letter, I'll get it, but who knows?  #ccmproblems

I LOVE YOU ALL!!
Con mucha ama,
Hermana Kennedy

This crazy fruit is called a granadia.  I peel it by whacking it against the corner of a table, taking off the peel, and sucking out the seeds inside like a vampire.  It's basically a Colombian pomegranate :-)

Just for Mark.